Meeting Mickey Mouse

This morning we woke Evan at 9am...he didn't get to sleep till 11pm, but thats another story. He is sleeping so much, I think its the timezone confusion and of course all the mental and physical stimulation.

We had a 1015 booking for Minnie & Friends character breakfast in Disneyland Park. I had been told that it was the best character breakfast as there is the most interaction and also the food is great...Hah!!! People who think this are seriously deluded.

Although our booking was for 1015 we weren't seated till almost 11am and only after I complained. They said they had been calling us for 20min... I don't think so we were standing right there in front of the desk the whole time... Grrrrr

Anyway Evan really doesn't like waiting for the characters to come to you. Unfortunately that is how its done. You wait at your table till the characters come around. Mmmmm that sort of doesn't work when the come close and then leave. Not a happy 2 yo. Anyway Mummy complained to the character supervisor and eventually Tigger, Minnie Mouse and Eyeore came to visit us. Tigger was really cute and had Evan bouncing around chasing him.

The food was absolutely disgusting. The bacon was basically just gristle, the sausages - pure fat, the waffles were smothered in whipped cream and the french toast was limp and greasy. I couldn't believe how people were tucking in with such gusto. Evan ate almost nothing and we had coffee.

After that little misadventure we went to Mickeys Toontown to meet the man himself at his house. You walk through Mickey's house and right at the end you are escorted into a room to meet Mickey and have photos with him. Evan loved it. He was so excited when he saw Mickey in person. He gave him the biggest hug. It funny as he has been quite weary of the other characters, but not Mickey.

As we were leaving Evan goes " I met Mickey" and then proceeded to tell anyone that was within earshot the same thing.... very cute.

We also went on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Evan was a bit shocked by all the noise and commotion. You sit in your 2 seater rocket ship and go through the galaxy armed with your own infrared blaster. The challenge is to hit as many aliens as you can to get a good score. Mummy & Evan didn't do that well, but at least Daddy did. We loved that ride as its new one that wasn't here when we were last at Disneyland in 2003. As we were leaving we walked through the Buzz shop and I got Evan a Buzz astroblaster, he then proceeded to annoy almost everyone in the park by zapping them and yelling "gotcha"...LOL

Had another ride on the teacups, easily his favourite ride after Its a Small World. There was no queue so it was an easy walkon, same with the Buzz ride. Let me say that waiting in line with a toddler can be challenging... so it was nice to give that part of it a miss.

Then it was time to go back to the hotel (or "home" as Evan calls it") for a well earned rest. Mummy and Evan had a good sleep, whilst DH did the washing. Its been so hot, that we have been going through several changes of clothes each day and I was running out. Still always an excuse to buy more. Unfortunately most of the stores only have winter clothes in stock. I tried desperately to buy Evan another pair of shorts yesterday, only to have to pay $34USD for a pair of quicksilver cargos....they are cheaper in Australia.

Tonight DH took Evan back to Disneyland whilst mummy went and did more shopping. I had a great time at Old Navy and got some great bargains. Evan and DH did the Disneyland train and Its a Small World (again). Evan was back in bed by 8pm, so hopefully we will get an earlier start tomorrow.

Unfortunately still having problems uploading pics to Blogger. I think its the internet connection and the firewall they are using as I have the same problem at work. Will try and create an album on photobucket to see if that works. Will then post a link if I succeed.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow....

Ok the image above has been imbedded, so thats why its so big. Too hard to do the rest that way, so here is a photobucket link, just click to see the Disneyland slide show so far. There are lots more pics on the "real"camera and video too. But don't have the energy for that tonight.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v663/sydangel68/Disneyland/?action=view&slideshow=true

The Journey to Disneyland

Well we are in Anaheim at last. We left Sydney at 130pm on Saturday and got here at 1030am Saturday, love the time difference. The flight was ok, Evan slept for about 4 hrs but only with me holding him. Lets just say I ache all over from holding a 16kg little boy for so many hours. Still at least he got some sleep. Neither George or I have had any yet and its 9pm here on Saturday night. Evan crashed and burned at about 6pm tonight whilst we were in Target getting some nappies and other supplies. We got him back to the hotel and into bed without waking him, so he must have been shattered.

Update: Started this post last night and couldn't finish it, so went to bed. Its now Sunday morning 7am and I am wide awake after a good nights sleep. George has gone in search of a spa/sauna at the hotel's fitness centre to rest his weary muscles. Evan of course is still asleep. He woke briefly last night at 11pm to tell me that its daytime and time to get up. I convinced him otherwise and he has been asleep since..LOL

Today we have breakfast at 1030 at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. Its a character brunch where Evan will get a chance to get up close and personal with all the Disney gang and enjoy brunch at the same time. Lucky I booked for that time as I think Mr Sleepyhead will be down for awhile longer. Hoping he has a huge day sleep as tonight we have premiumn seats for Fantastmic at Disneyland. Its not till 9pm. Its like a shortened version of Fanstasia done with holograms and other special effects on the Rivers of America within Disneyland. Lets hope its not too scary for Evan.

Yesterday we briefly ventured to DownTown Disney and Evan got his first glimpse of all the Disney Merchanise on offer. Purchases included 2 Mickey tshirts, 1 Captain Hook Mickey, 1 Mickey lollypop, some Mickey sunglasses and a Pirates of the Caribean Donald Duck for the bath. I think that was pretty good given that the World of Disney Store is the largest in the world. Its massive and has so much to chose from, Evan was a bit overwhelmed.

We then had some lunch at a funky New Orleans type place. Evan had the kids meal which was mini corn dogs with smilie fries. I haven't seen him eat that much for a long time. He loved the min corn dogs, they were basically hot dogs cut into bit sized pieces covered in cornmeal and fried. Got to love then healthy American food.

Here are some pics of him wearing his sunnies, eating the lollypop and trying a corn dog. Promise to take more pics today. I was operating in sleep deprivation mode yesterday. Grrrr it isn't loading the pics. Will try again later.

Animals Animals Animals

Evan and his friends Charles(top), Jackson (bottom left) and Guy (bottom right)

Today we had a fabulous day at Taronga Zoo, here in Sydney. Jackson is the lucky boy whose father is a Zoo Keeper!!!! What a great job. Anyway Jackson got to invite 3 of his friends and families to the Zoo for the day. It was awesome. We arrived at 9am and spent sometime at the Zoo education centre. Evan got to pat a baby croc...CRIKEY! (RIP Steve), an echidna, a koala, a turtle and get very up close and personal with an over friendly Emu. Evan loved the hands on experience and so did mummy and daddy.

Here are some pictures of the day... the boys were worn out and ready for a nap by Noon. They insisted on running everywhere, looking for more animals as they went.



This is Evan giving the little baby croc a pat. Apparently those little teeth can pack a mean bite.

The boys also discovered a big old tortoise in the yard, which had to be harrassed. They were fascinated by the size of it and its hard shell.






Evan was a bit disappointed that there weren't any elephants. We hope they will get here one day. Meanwhile the cement elephant did the trick in keeping happy.

Busy Weekend

These were the highlights.....

Sunday was Aunty Simone's birthday, so we got a couple of dozen Krispy Kreme donuts and headed over to make a "special donut" cake.

Evan as usual thought it was his birthday and helped blow out the candles and of course devoured at least 2 donuts.

He was chanting "donuts, donuts, donuts". His daddy was so proud that we have a little "Homer".

Sunday afternoon was haircut time. I really like Evan with short hair, but the barber did a less than stellar job. I am really disappointed compared to last time. I am tempted to take him somewhere else this weekend and get it "fixed". Only problem is he gets so distressed when he gets the haircut, that I am not sure thats its worth the trauma. Will see if the do settles down by the end of the week.

What do you think?

Sunshine

My mum has a special song that she sings to Evan and he has now started to sing along to it. Its amazing how quickly he can learn the words to songs. Yesterday I found him in his room singing it to himself and then of course he clapped himself too!

A New Pram!

Yes I went shopping on Sunday and came home with a new pram... I am almost embarrassed to admit it.

I got the Quinny Zapp in black, its amazing. At 16.5kg, most strollers struggle under Evan's weight, where as this stroller just glides along. It can hold to 22kg, so we will get quite a bit of use from it.

Its mainly for our trip as we needed something that we could take on board the plane, and this folds up very small and has its own carry bag. I was dreading landing at LAX and having to carry and exhausted toddler through customs and immigration. My last experience with immigration at LAX is that it can take over a hour. This way Evan can sit comfortably in the stroller and maybe even have a nap.

The best part is he loves it and wants to keep going for rides in it. Lucky I can fold it up and put it out of sight for now..

Here he is testing it out.....

Happy Fathers Day

Evan had a wonderful fathers day with his Popoo (Grandad) and Daddy. We went to Coggee Beach for Breakfast. Evan thought its was great as he got to ride his scooter whilst waiting for the food to come. Plus he got lots of cuddles and kisses from his grandparents.

He ate 3 little chippolata sausages which is very unusual as he rarely eats more than a couple of bites at breakfast time. Must have been all the sea air. As a treat he then got some strawberries and ice cream. Yes Christmas had come early for Evan!!!

After breakfast it was time to check out the beach and have some more time on the scooter. He even contemplated taking his scooter down to the sand but we were able to convince him it wasn't a good idea.

I can see a trend emerging

Birthday Party & More Ice Cream

It was my sisters birthday yesterday, so we headed over there last night for some Chinese food and of course ice cream cake. Evan had a blast with his cousins and even scored a heap of presents from one of my cousins. She'd never got around to giving him his 2nd birthday pressies, so of course Evan thought yesterday's party was his!

The highlight was the ice cream cake. Evan thought it was yummy. I had to stop him going back for seconds. As 2 lots of ice cream in one day is probably all his tummy could handle. Lucky for us the new allergy meds are working a treat.

Sunday At The Beach

The weather continues to suprise me every weekend. Just when you expect the rain will come, it turns out to be another glorious sunny day.

We spent the morning visiting a really cool kids playground at Maroubra Beach. Evan wasn't really interested in the playground as he spotted the skate ramp and wanted to try out his scooter. He had a mini tantrum when I said know, most of the kids using it were 12 years and older. He really thinks he is bigger than he really is!! Compromised by letting him use his scooter on the pavement instead.

After some scooter fun, he needed time to chill out and regroup. So it was the perfect opportunity to kick back and enjoy an ice cream. Its amazing how messy they can get. Oh and I became the human napkin, got to love that.

We also took time to feed the seagulls and check out the beach itself. Evan loved it all and can't wait to go back. He keeps asking for the "beach". Funny that even though we went there for the playground, he really only played there for a few minutes. There was just way too much more interesting stuff to explore.

More Scooter Boy Evan

After awhile he was starting to get the hang of it, although still struggling with the steering.

As he rides along he calls out "fidit, fidit", for those familiar with the Teletubbies, thats what Po says when he rides his scooter. Apparently its cantonese for faster faster.

He also asked me for a "helmet" tonight before he went to bed.... apparently the picture on the scooter box, shows the little boy wearing a helmet, so now he wants one too. Probably not a bad idea as I get the feeling the scooter will be going everywhere with us. Now to find a funky looking helmet... do they make Wiggles ones?

SCOOTER BOY

Grandma got Evan a new scooter, which he is trying to learn to ride. The steering is a challenge, but I think he is doing well for a 2 year old. Check out the video. Sorry about the quality, I took it on my mobile phone.

In The Hood

Not sure where some of his antics come from... but the latest is wearing his "rock star" sunglasses and putting his hoodie jacket on. The result is this rockstar/rapper look.

He was sitting in the car this morning saying "cool, cool", "Evan cool".

Its looking more and more likely that he will grow up to be a ROCK STAR.. at least in the fashion stakes.

Here Duckie Duckie

Can't believe this fabulous weather we are having in Sydney. Took advantage of it again and headed out for the parks along Georges River in the South of Sydney. We met up with DH's family - his sister, mum, neice and nephew.

Evan was very excited to see his cousin Billy, who at 7 years old enjoying the hero worship he gets from Evan.

First stop were the ducks, they had to be fed of course. Its was touch and go but we somehow managed to keep Evan out of the water. He would happily just follow the ducks into the water if we didn't hold him back.

After the ducks we went for a nice little cross country walk to the playground. The kids had a ball climbing and sliding. Evan loved the swings the most.

The slippery dip was pretty tall and winding, I was sure Evan would be scared to climb up there let alone slide down, but as long as his cousin Billy was doing it, then Evan was too. My little boy is really growing up.

The Wheels On The Bus.......

Another beautiful sunny day in Sydney, so perfect weather for an adventure.

Today Evan went on a bus for the first time. He sees the buses all the time and when we are driving to work/daycare and lately he has been asking to go on one. So he finally got his wish. We caught the bus from home into the city, about 15 min ride and of course he loved every minute of it.

We got off near Hyde Park and walked to the Australian Museum in College St. Evan had a wonderful time exploring in the museum. He loved the skeletons of the dinasours the best. They also have a place called Kids Island which is a play area for under 5s. It has so many little nooks to explore and lots of props for pretend play.

Lunch at Maccas followed and then we caught the bus home. Evan was so exhausted he fell asleep on the walk home from the bus stop, which only takes 5 min.

Definitely something we will be doing again, DH joined us up for annual membership to the Museum as they have lots of great things coming up, including a big dinasour exhibition.

Evan's New PJs

Check them out!!!

I love EBAY

More Fun At The Doctor

Evan had his 12 month followup with the ENT specialist today and unfortunately its not good news. It looks like his adenoids have grown back, which we were warned could happen and his tonsils are huge, almost to the point of touching.

The Dr suspects that Evan is suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, which explains so much. The constant night waking, the snoring, the constant congestion like he has a cold, but no runny nose. Even the night terrors could be related.

Its a relief to know that there is some physical reason that we are suddenly having all these sleep issue and its not a behavioural problem.

The next month will not be fun, while we do some tests to determine how bad the problem actually is and then determine the treatment required. First step is the sleep study which is booked for 8 September. Not looking forward to that, at least I get to stay with him at the hospital overnight. Then we have 2 more followups with various Drs to discuss treatment options.

We are due to go overseas on 23 Sept and I have the ENT appointment on 22 Sept to decide on the treatment option we will take. At least we will know before we go. Then will probably do whatever is required as soon as we get back, lucky we are only away a week.

At this stage its looking likely that we will be having both adenoids and tonsils removed. Poor little Evan, when does all this end.

Anyway to cheer myself up, thought I'd share one of my favourite pics of him.

The Guitar Place

The guitar place is actually the Hard Rock Cafe here in Sydney. Evan has been calling it "the guitar place" since we first took him a couple of months ago. Its his favourite restaurant, not that he has been to that many!

After a great afternoon at the park, we decided it was too hard to cook dinner at home, so agreed it was the perfect time to go to the guitar place again. Afterall its great practice for Evan in dining out as we leave for our trip to LA in 6 weeks, so we want him to get used to restuarant dining and at least manage to stay seated for the duration of the meal.

Evan did great, I think its the atmosphere. He had a ball watching all the music videos and clapped at the end of each song. He checked out all the memorabilia, especially the guitars. His little friend Mickey Mouse even came along and got a feed.



The lil kids rocker meal was great and he tucked in with gusto. Chicken tenders with chips and he ate them all... the chicken that is... only managed a couple of chips. DH got to enjoy his burger this time as Evan wasn't interested, very different compared to last time where all he wanted was DH burger. Sometimes I can't figure him out...lucky I didn't order him the kids burger. I had a great cobb salad, same thing I always have when I am there, but its a favourite.

We finished off the meal with a chocolate brownie with 2 scoops of vanilla icecream. Evan thought he was in heaven and helped DH polish it off.

Overall a great night out. Can't wait to do it again.

Glorious Sydney Sunshine

Decided to take advantage of the wonderful sunny weather and went to the park yesterday afternoon. We are lucky to live in a residential development with lots of designated parklands and a wonderful kids playground. Evan loves to go there, we don't do it often enough.

DH got Evan a new kite that is shaped like a bat, they both had lots of fun flying it at the windy park, before heading over to the kids playground. Actually I am not sure who enjoyed it more, Evan or DH?

We all had a blast at the kids playground. Its like a climbing maze with lots of little hiding places and 2 slides. There were quite a few kids around and Evan had fun trying to copy one of the bigger boys by sliding down the pole. He yelled "sliding like Mcreadie" yes thats right more Balamory assocaitions...lol

Anyway off to the park again this afternoon. Got to take advantage of this glorious weather while it lasts.

Fun At The Doctor

Yesterday we went to see Evan's gastro specialist for a check up and review. The last 2 times we've been, Evan has been a nightmare, crying and trying to bolt out the door. I think its because the Dr is located at the hospital and thats also where Evan has had 2 procedures. So its an association thing.

DH couldn't come with me this time, so I was just dreading the visit, how was I going to control Evan and manage to talk to the Dr at the same time. I decided I needed to do a bit more preparation this time, so I started talking to him about the Dr over the past week, played the Wiggles episode where the Dr visits Anthony. Also as luck would have it there was a Balamory episode where they visit the hospital. He loves this one, so I made sure we watched it again and again...... the things we do as parents!

Also my mum got Evan a Drs kit, it a little red bag with all the bits and pieces. He loved it and had lots of fun doing the Balamory Dr thing on his teddies. Things were looking good.

I am pleased to say it was a huge success. He was so well behaved at the Dr, he even thanked him when we left and gave him a cuddle! As we were leaving the hospital Evan said to me "had fun at the doctors". LOL

As for the actual prognosis, things are looking good. We are going to wean down to half dose of losec in about a week, but will be supplementing it with zantac for awhile. He has advised that we continue to use the neocate as him main source of calcium for now. From a growth perspective the Dr was amazed at how much Evan has grown. He is now almost 94cm and 16kg. The good news is that whilst he has grown in height, his weight has remained stable for the past 6 months, which is the outcome we want right now.